Report: Air Force Networks Block Access to WikiLeaks Docs

The U.S. Air Force has blocked access on its network to sites that posted documents from whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks. According to The New York Times, high profile news sources including itself, the U.K.'s The Guardian, Germany's Der Spiegel, France's Le Monde, and Spain's El Pais have been banned.

The U.S. Air Force has blocked access on its network to sites that posted documents from whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks. According to the New York Times, high profile news sources including the U.K.'s Guardian, Germany's Der Spiegel, France's Le Monde, Spain's El Pais, and Times itself have been banned.

When personnel try to view these sites and others on the Air Force network, they'll see a screen that says "Access Denied: Internet usage is logged and monitored," an Air Force official told the Times.

WikiLeaks began releasing more than 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables more than two weeks ago. The material is all over the Web now, and there are thousands of WikiLeaks mirrors that ensure that the documents won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Despite the fact that it's in the public domain, the Air Force said that it's still classified information, and has ordered personnel not to read it unless they have clearance. Those who try to access blocked sites on the Air Force network have been warned that they could be punished.

"News media Web sites will be blocked if they post classified documents from the WikiLeaks Web site," Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Brenda Campbell said. "This is similar to how we'd block any other Web site that posted classified information."

The cables were reportedly culled from a government database by Army intelligence analyst PFC Bradley Manning using a disc disguised as a Lady Gaga CD. To prevent this type of breach from happening again, last week the Pentagon banned the use of removable devices on computers on the Defense Department network.

The Times said that the Army, Navy, and Marines have said that they won't block sites that have posted the leaked documents on their networks because a directive has already been issued by President Obama not to read the cables without proper security clearance.

"Classified information, whether or not already posted on public Web sites or disclosed to the media, remains classified, and must be treated as such by federal government employees and contractors, until it is declassified by an appropriate U.S. Government authority," said a notice from the White House Office of Management and Budget.

However, the Times said that some Air Force officials have recognized that this ban could be futile since personnel could technically access the information via home computers and other personal devices.

"It is unfortunate that the U.S. Air Force has chosen not to allow its personnel access to information that virtually everyone else in the world can access," said Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the Times.

Attorney General Eric Holder has authorized an active investigation into WikiLeaks' actions. A House Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday.

Leslie Horn joined the PCMag team as a news reporter in the fall of 2010. She covers a wide range of topics from digital media to the latest Apple rumor. After graduating with a degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Missouri, she wrote for Out & About, a travel guide in coastal Maine. One of her favorite reporting experiences was covering the 2008 Olympics from Beijing. She travels every chance she gets, and recently spent time backpacking along the coast of Brazil. Though she...
More »